


Barren Cages, Empty Ribcages

by SparksOut



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men Apocalypse - Fandom
Genre: (Set post age of apocalypse), As in human shifts into dragons, Betting, Casinos, Circus, Dragon Shape Shifter, Dragons, F/M, Gambling, Gangs, Other, chinese gambling parlors, gambling parlors, its p nifty, luck-altering mutants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 01:01:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7131713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparksOut/pseuds/SparksOut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>this is self indulgent as shit and I regret nothing</p><p>Apocalypse lays dead at their feet, sleeping till long past their lifetimes end. The dust of shattered buildings settles around them, in their hair, in their lungs. Erik falls to his knees, overwhelmed by the grief he's caused to so many innocent people. They all bleed. They think their fight, at least this day, is over. They rebuild. </p><p>Apocalypse's meddling with other planes did not go unnoticed. There are creatures, much more ancient than he, who were angered by his actions. The Uhcri, an ancient race of mutants said to control fortune herself, have awoken. They laid idle for years, running gambling dens and casinos, getting rich off their less-evolved cousins' addictions. Apocalypse, however, created a rift in the ether from which the Uhcri draw their powers. Not only have economies crashed in the wake of the global destruction, but the Uhcri face poverty for the first time in their existence. </p><p>The heir to the royal Uhcri family, Edyta Lung, has decided to find a way to fix the ether and return the Uhcri to their former glory. She's the only Uhcri who didn't lose her powers, and that leaves more questions than it answers...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Barren Cages, Empty Ribcages

Edyta (Edit-ta) sat, watching her parents' men bring in another heavily-chained mutant. He was gorgeous, a creature not far from a Grecian statue. But what interested her most were the massive white wings pinned against his back, with nasty bronze talons at their apex.  
  
“What do they call you?” she asked, looking him over.  
  
He shifted within his bonds, eying the guards before responding. “Angel. Archangel. The Warbird.”  
  
Edyta nodded, then looked to the guards. “Unchain him, then leave us.”  
  
Angel looked shocked, glancing again around the incredibly large room as if it would provide a chance of escape. Then he noticed the shiny ring of keys jingling on Edyta’s belt.  
  
The guards didn’t react, just unchained Angel and left the room, locking the door behind themselves. It was just Edyta alone with Angel, and she was curious how he’d react.  
  
Angel leapt at her almost instantly, but tripped on a wire he hadn’t seen and faceplanted into the floor.  
  
“Cute.” Edyta said, still unmoved from where she was sitting on the desk.  
  
Angel leapt back to his feet, rushing for her again. And this time one of his wings clipped a filing cabinet accidentally and brought the entire affair crashing down on him.  
  
“They say you’re on of the best cage-fighters in the world.” Edyta said, getting off the desk and going to stand near where Angel was struggling to push away the filing cabinet that had pinned his wing.  
  
“And I am.” He growled, shoving the cabinet off and standing still before Edyta. “You a telekinetic? Moving those things into my way?”  
  
Edyta laughed and smiled, a couple of teeth far too sharp showing through her expensive Hollywood-white dental plan. “Nope. Anyways, I don’t reveal myself to my employees. Sorry boy.” She said, throwing in a pout on the last line.  
  
“Why am I here?” Angel asked, though it was more of a statement.  
  
“Well, I might be a chipper darling of just 19, but I run a very important business. And you, you’ve got just the skills that I’d like to feature. See, I run a variety of casinos and gambling parlors, and a couple cage-fighting arenas. A new season is starting and I need some new gladiators. They pay is good, very good, so long as you win. We cover medical, will have you stitched up after each fight. More than you can say for most sponsors.” She took a step forward, looking Angel in the eye. “It’s in your best interest to say yes.”  
  
“And if I say no?” He responded.  
  
“Well, medical doesn’t cover that.” Edyta said, walking back to the desk. “This is better than the other lame cage fights you’ve been up to. More glory. More blood. More money.” She looked at him through her lashes. “It’s a celebrity position, so long as you win.”  
  
Angel wished he could say there was a moment of debate, a second of clear thought, but his answer was almost instant.  
  
“When do I start?”  
  
Edyta smiled, hopping down from the table and grabbing Angel’s hand. “They’ll throw you into conditioning tomorrow. Tonight is physicals. First fight is in a week, but it’s just a skirmish to get you used to how we do things.” She knocked on the door, and a guard peered through the glass. Seeing it was her, he opened the door.  
  
“Get him ready. Have the painters run a campaign. He will be our poster boy. I want everyone betting on him. Give him easy opponents to start, make everyone fall in love with him.” Edyta whispered to the guards in Chinese. “And bring in the next hopeful.” Edyta said, shutting the door.  
  
She sat back on the desk, tracing the gold inlays on the wood. She watched the cobra they kept just to intimate hopefuls restlessly wander around its tank, flicking its tongue at the air rapidly. The next hopeful entered the room in a box.  
  
The guards walked to the wall, pulling a lever that caused a dull electrical hum to pulse through the air. Edyta kept her eyes tightly focused on the box as the guards turned off its electrical current and unceremoniously dumped the critter inside onto the floor.  
  
Unlike the last one, this new guest did not instantly try and attack her. He was blue, with a gaudy jacket and black hair. His eyes, when he turned to look at her, were startlingly large and the color of the sun.  
  
Edyta internally gagged, she was beginning to sound like her mother’s poetry. “What do they call you?” She asked, softly.  
  
“Nightcrawler.” He answered, glancing around the room. “if I’ve wronged you in any way, please I can repay it.” He said, fixing his eyes on Edyta.  
  
“No, boy, you’ve not done anything wrong. In fact, I may need your help. Can you teleport?” Edyta asked, carefully.  
  
“Yeah, though not with the electrical cage around this room. Can’t get out of it.” He said, his slight accent softening his r’s.  
  
Edyta sighed. Finally, they’d brought her a teleporter. Someone who also used the ether, as her kind did. “Outside of the electrical cage around the room, have you had any difficulties teleporting lately?”  
  
Nightcrawler popped from his position on the floor, to clinging to the ceiling above her head. He’d teleported onto a weak spot though, which fell as soon as it took his weight and sent him crashing down onto Edyta.  
  
He almost instantly jumped off her, sputtering apologies and trying to help her brush the plaster off herself. If he really knew what she was, Edyta thought to herself, he wouldn’t be half so friendly about being this near. The thought almost made her sad.  
  
“That’s enough, I’m fine.” Edyta said, putting her hands on his shoulders and pushing him away from her. “So no problems teleporting. I do need your help, and it’s a very lucrative opportunity. One job for me and you can be living easy for the rest of your life. So long as you avoid our casinos.” Edyta winked.  
  
“What do you need?” He asked, brushing the plaster off himself now.  
  
He was so kind, Edyta was glad he would have a use that saved him from the arena. Usually “medical” meant “stitch your face back together so your parents recognize you at your funeral.”  
  
She got off the desk and handed him her business card. “My… associate’s connection to the ether has been severed. Mine hasn’t. We’re the same… breed of mutant. Your teleporting moves you through the ether. I need you to move into the ether and find out why I can still connect and my associate can’t. If you do, you will be rewarded handsomely. If you can’t, we will let you go and pray you never end up in our hands again.”  
  
Nightcrawler looked mildly confused, but interested. “What is you and your associate’s connection to the ether?” he asked.  
  
“Primarily? We use it to influence the luck of those around us. There are… other uses, but that’s the one we’re most concerned about. It’s what funds our casinos.” She smiled.  
  
Nightcrawler nodded, breaking eye contact and glancing around the room. His eyes settled on the cobra as he spoke. “I can try, especially if it will give your friend their powers back. It’s horrible to be powerless.”  
  
“Well, it won’t be here. I wasn’t expecting to come across another ether weaver for a while, so I don’t have the facility set up. My family is hosting a small skirmish in the east side arena. You should join, we can talk and the fight will be perfect cover.” Edyta said, nodding to herself.  
  
“Cover? I thought we were helping your friend.” Nightcrawler asked, upset.  
  
“We are, but there are some very powerful people who are very glad that my family has come upon hard times. They would pay a lot to see we all die off. Fixing the disconnect in the ether will make some enemies, but those are people I’m prepared to deal with. No mutant should be without their power.” Edyta said, her voice rising in conviction as she spoke.  
  
Nightcrawler looked mildly concerned, but nodded. He fiddled with the business card in his hand. “Okay, I will come. But just to talk though, I don’t know if I can do this.” He said, not making eye contact and rubbing his arm.  
  
“Lovely, I will see you then. And don’t teleport while you’re inside the facility. There’s bad luck abound here and I wouldn’t want you getting hurt.” Edyta said, patting Nightcrawler on the shoulder. She knocked on the door again, and the buzzing around the room turned off.  
  
“Get him out of the facility safely. Give him one of the dragon swords, then leave him alone. I need him alive, and anyone who harms him will have to answer to me.” Edyta hissed at the guard, again in Chinese.  
  
She smiled at Nightcrawler, who still looked nervous. This better be worth it, because she was running out of time.


End file.
